Flashback to a young Storm, who in his youth, hadn't quite come to terms with his sexuality (trust me, it is slightly pertinent to the story lol)
Suddenly thrust out of his comfort zone by having to attend a new school halfway through his freshman year, he struggles to fit in. He meets a girl, she had that nerdy flair that one could detect from miles away, and Storm does indeed take notice. She was cute, and he was desperate. He spies a small lanyard on her hip, and from it, dangles a swordsman dressed in a flashy black coat with two swords.
As a way to endear her to him, Storm went home and spent a long time searching for the name of the character, eventually discovering him to be Kirito, and he was from an....anime? Huh, Storm thought he'd try to watch the show so he would have a way to talk to the girl, and that's how I got into anime.
I wanted to be able to talk to a girl because I had a crush on her :P And now I'm gay. Not because of her or anything. Just mean to say her and I didn't really work out >.> We still talk about anime all the time, though.